Second Helpings: The Cut

What: A contemporary steakhouse in the heart of the city

Where: IAPM Mall, 6-7/F, 999 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Shanxi Nan Lu. Tel: 6443 5136. Web: www.thecut-shanghai.com

Why: For a classy dinner before the legendary Thursday after work drinks on the seventh floor terrace

The Cut touts itself as being an affordable, meat-focused restaurant rather than a pricey steakhouse. Run by VOL group, the powerhouse company behind Ultraviolet, Mr & Mrs Bund, Bar Rouge and From a Chinese Cookbook, the restaurant serves wellsourced beef cuts. Originally, the menu comprised of only steak dishes, and guests who weren’t keen on a meat-focused meal were out of luck. However, the menu recently had a revamp to include a new range of sides and a wide variety of grilled dishes. As a testament to the restaurant’s affordability, unlimited homemade potato wedges accompany cuts of meat and the all-you-can-eat, seasonal, healthy salad bar features a range of eight different salads.

To start our meal, we sampled the fresh David Herve #4 Oysters (RMB 118 for three or RMB 198 for six). Duck liver foie gras with pickled shallots, roasted apples and brioche (RMB 118) was next on the list of new items to try, and it didn’t disappoint with a perfect balance of savoury and sweet flavours on toasted brioche. However, the Black Angus beef Carpaccio (RMB 98), was the standout starter in our eyes, which was generously sprinkled with aged parmesan, black truffle and confit shallots. For our main, meaty course, we selected the Chinese Snow Dragon Xuelong Wagyu rib eye grade A2 (RMB 338 for 250 grams). The quality cut came to our table medium rare, as requested, and cut like butter before being dipped into the accompanying béarnaise sauce. The Asian sundae cup, with nuts and a salted caramel topping (RMB 68), was the sweet treat we had been hoping it would be, and we were able to select three flavours from a wide range of locally made ice cream.

 

After your meal, make sure to head up to the seventh floor of the venue, which is only accessible by an elevator in the restaurant. The upstairs bar includes a gigantic glass box, which offers sweeping views of the Jing'an skyline and a spacious outdoor terrace.